A central goal of science education reform is for students to participate in scientific sense making rather than to merely acquire science facts. However, even in classrooms utilizing reform-based pedagogies, students are typically allowed to construct knowledge only insofar as they construct expected knowledge. In this report and reflection, we…

Many types of learning require the mapping of information across situations. The proposed organizational framework extends the cognitive study of mappings across problems to include mappings across representations, solutions, and sociocultural contexts. I apply one-to-one, one-to-many, and partial mappings to analyze representative cases that…

This article concerns the development of conceptual understanding of a physical phenomenon through the use of computational representations. It examines how students make sense of and interpret computational representations, and how their understanding of the represented physical phenomenon develops in this process. Eight studies were conducted,…

The multidisciplinary study of complex systems in the physical and social sciences over the past quarter of a century has led to the articulation of important new conceptual perspectives and methodologies that are of value both to researchers in these fields as well as to professionals, policymakers, and citizens who must deal with challenging…

Introduces a special issue on the ways in which symbolic tools enable, mediate, and shape mathematical thinking while being themselves a product of these processes. (Author/MM)

Describes the provenance of the data used in this issue. Includes design of the instructional sequence, instructional activities, classroom structure, and classroom episodes. (Author/MM)

Analyzes two classroom episodes using a classroom mathematical practice together with students' diverse ways of contributing to its continual regeneration as the unit of analysis. Asserts that a classroom mathematical practice is composed of three interrelated types of norms: a normative purpose, normative standards of argumentation, and normative…

Investigates not only the influence but also the confluence of students' and teacher's understandings of the quality of whole class discussions. Focuses on the communication between students and the teacher in the classroom. Considers the role of tools in both supporting and constraining communication in the classroom. (Author/MM)

Explores how inscriptions are used to create argumentative positions in two classroom episodes. Finds that the classroom activities resembled those of scientific communities in several ways: (1) Real-world, dilemma-driven problems were presented; (2) students evaluated the inscriptions offered in terms of their adequacy for advancing particular…

Presents a cultural-developmental framework for the analysis of children's mathematics in collective practices and illustrates the heuristic value of the framework through the analysis of videotaped episodes drawn from a middle-school classroom. Discusses the promise and limitations of the framework as a method for furthering understanding of the…

Considers individual students' progress as they use tools, discuss data distributions, and interact with teachers and their peers. Suggests that data display tools provide a partial context for discussions but do not constrain the students' interpretations or the way they reason about the data. (Author/MM)

Analyzes two classroom episodes guided by the assumption that thinking can be conceptualized as an activity of communication and learning can be regarded as modifying and extending one's discursive ways. Aims to uncover the ways in which the discursive uses of such new symbolic tools were interactively constructed by the students. Concludes that…

Introduces a special issue of the Journal of the Learning Sciences on methodology in learning sciences. Focuses on how one begins to account for learning and the potential of a learning context to support learning. (Author/MM)

Comments on four articles in a special issue of the Journal of the Learning Sciences on methodology in learning sciences. Analyzes the articles within a general model seeking to analyze human activity across multiple time scales. (Author/MM)

Describes an epistemological framework and an associated research method. The framework focuses on the structural relations of individual and setting as experienced by the individual. The analysis consists in zooming to identify patterns that simultaneously occur at multiple levels. Uses data from a physics classroom where students learn to…